Bleach: Redux
by Reduxer
Summary: When it seems that all is lost, Kisuke plays his ace-in-the-hole to defeat Aizen. But time is not so easily manipulated, and...complications arise. Does Ichigo have what it takes to change the past?
1. Crimson Rain

**Hello, and welcome. Now, I know what you're all thinking. _Another_ time travel story? Let me guess, Ichigo goes back, kicks Aizen's ass and that's it?**

**Not so. Just to let you know, I have big plans for this story, and they are...unorthodox, to say the least. Also, I'm keeping the pairing under wraps for now. You may be in for a surprise! Anyways, onto the formal stuff:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, things would be very different...**

**Summary: When it seems that all is lost, Kisuke plays his ace-in-the-hole to defeat Aizen. But time is not so easily manipulated, and...complications arise. Does Ichigo have what it takes to change the past?  
**

* * *

**Chapter One: Crimson Rain**

Rain sputtered down relentlessly upon the cracked stonework, trickling down through vast valleys of wreckage, stained red as it mixed with the blood of the fallen. The Urahara Shoten had been completely pulverised, as had much of the rest of Karakura, once so bustling with life. Hard to believe that this graveyard was once the most spiritually rich area in the world.

And now it was gone. The crimson rain cascaded down upon the lonely figure surrounded by corpses of both friends and enemies. Rukia, Renji, Ishida, Inoe, Sado, Tatsuki, Yoruichi, Nel…so many dear to Ichigo had fallen in the final, terrible battle.

After a very narrow win over Ulquiora, and healing from Inoue, Ichigo and the others had returned to a bloodbath. Many of the captains and vice-captains were already dead, though they had taken the Espada with them. The survivors and Ichigo's group had all taken on Aizen, and won…but the price had been too high. Nearly everyone had been killed by the time both Aizen and General Yamomoto released their Bankais, resulting in an enormous shockwave of concentrated reitsu.

Ichigo had managed to find cover using his own Bankai, but the sheer force of it was enough to destoy all three of the remaining pillars to bring back the original Karakura, and even then there was enough left to effectively kill over half of its population. If Ichigo listened closely, he could still hear them screaming. But he could focus on little else but the rain.

Crimson rain.

Something stirred within the rubble. Had someone else found cover? Slowly, the person removed itself from the stone with many grunts of pain and gasps. It was Urahara; Ichigo would know that ridiculous hat anywhere.

Nothing was said as the two stared at each other. What could they say? In but a few moments, they had both lost their whole worlds.

Urahara looked like he had gone through a meat grinder, and Ichigo knew he himself could not look much better. The former captain half looked up, absorbing the carnage, but only truly seeing one body.

"Yoruichi…" he rasped, a bit of blood spraying out of his mouth. Ichigo said nothing.

What could he say?

Urahara tore his gaze from the body of his childhood friend, and gave Ichigo such an intense stare that the young teenager felt as if he were being accused of something.

"Come with me." Said the shopkeeper in a voice that left no room for argument.

Slowly the two made their way through the mesh of broken building and flesh. Every time he saw the face of someone he knew, Ichigo died a little more inside. But even worse were the bodies whose faces were too badly damaged to make out their identity. _Did I know this person?_ He would ask himself, and he was afraid to know the answer.

The roof of the Shoten had fallen in, so they didn't so much go inside as go to the centre of the wreckage. Suddenly Ichigo saw Urahara dart down to grab something on the scarlet earth, and with a great heave, lifted up a trapdoor. He climbed down, beckoning Ichigo to follow.

It had not been what he expected, to say the least. Instead of coming out in a different area of the training grounds, as pyshics required, they were in a large, circular room with metal plating on the walls. In the very centre of the room was the most bizarre construction Ichigo had ever seen. It consisted of seven pillars, and the top and bottom of each pillar had near invisible wires stretched out to meet the tops and bottoms of all the other pillars, creating an extremely confusing tangle.

"Wha-What is this thing?" he asked Urahara, who was currently fiddling with a computer on the other side of the room.

"I had hoped that things would not get this bad, but the situation leaves me no alternative." He looked up from the keyboard. "Ichigo, this is what you would call a time machine."

"…WHAT THE HELL?! You had a time machine the whole time and you never told us?!"

"…I just said that I hoped not to need it." Ichigo took and deep breath, hope beginning to swell within him.

"So…we can use that to go back?"

"Correction!" exclaimed Kisuke, Pulling out his fan. "_You_ can use it to go back! I have experimented with it, and it can only send one being through at a time!"

"Wouldn't you be better? You're a former captain!" Yelled Ichigo at the hat-and-sandals man, his mind still reeling. Said man lowered his fan, face grave.

"…you have proven yourself stronger than I many a time, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked back towards the haphazardly strewn bodies. For now, he was numb to the loss; there was this hope, however small, that this need not be the only way things ended, but still…

"…I wasn't strong enough to save them." He said, his voice strained. "I'm not strong enough for Aizen."

"Correction! You are not strong enough for post-Hōgyoku Aizen!"

"Eh?"

"While a worthy opponent even without using the Hōgyoku on himself, Gin and Tōsen to massively increase their powers, you should be able to defeat them as you are now, and who knows how much stronger you will become as you replay the events? Therefore, I will send you back to before Rukia is captured, and before Aizen retrieves the Hōgyoku from her. Of course, the Espada were still under Aizen's employ back then, and will come after you when you defeat Aizen, but without the Hōgyoku their transformation will be incomplete, and they will be weaker."

"Err…one question." Said Ichigo, a sudden thought striking him. "Won't this cause a time paradox? Like, me meeting the old me?"

"No, no, you see, it only sends back your mind and soul, not your body. They will merge with your old mind and soul, granting your past self your current knowledge and powers."

"Well then, what are we waiting for!" Yelled Ichigo, striding forward toward the device. "Send me back already!" Kisuke nodded and flipped a several switches on the terminal. The wires connecting the pillars began to glow a bright blue, and the pillars themselves soon followed suit. Ichigo could practically taste the reitsu pouring of it.

"Now, Ichigo!" Yelled Urahara over the rushing wind created by the reitsu's movements. "Grab onto one of the wires, quickly!" Ichigo did so, and his whole body tensed as the machine's power shot threw him, manipulating his every atom, forcing them to pass through the time-rift it had opened. Somehow, Ichigo managed get out a few last words in this world:

"Kisuke…" he rasped. "When…how far will it take me back?"

"No idea, Kurosaki-kun! Said Urahara in a singsong voice.

"…Bastard…" And with that, Ichigo's vision began to distort, as did the fabric of all reality. Slowly, everything meshed and kaleidoscoped, until all Ichigo could see was white as all the colours joined, erasing the dark, unwelcome future, imprisoning the unforgivable deaths of loved ones into long-forgotten dreams, and washing away the last drops of crimson rain.


	2. Complications and Friends

"WAKE UP, ICHIGOOO!"

The Kurosaki household was alerted that it was daybreak by the sound of a loud crash and a cry of pain. Ichigo had caught his father by the face and thrown him out the window. Not even bothering to shout at his loving parent, Ichigo clambered out of bed and haphazardly threw on a dressing gown that hung on the closet door handle.

_I did it,_ he thought excitedly. _I'm back! Now just to find out how far back I've come…_ Quickly bounding downstairs, he accepted breakfast from a bewildered Yuzu and promptly made a second one, then took both upstairs. Before he did so, the front door creaked open, and a very happy (yet bloody) Kurosaki Isshin crawled in.

"I'm so proud of you, son…I think I broke a couple of ribs…there is nothing more for me to teach you!" Ignoring him, Ichigo re-entered his room and closed the door so no-one could hear, then knocked softly on the closet door.

"Oi, Rukia. Breakfast." He hissed. When there was no reply, he started to get annoyed. "Rukia, I'm opening the door, so you better not be doing anything embarrassing." He opened the door.

The closet was empty. No makeshift bed, no stolen pyjamas. Just a vacuum cleaner and a pile of old manga. Definitely no Rukia. On the back of the door was a calendar, with the current date circled.

_Aw, crap_. Thought Ichigo. _Damn that Urahara!_

It was the day that Ichigo gained his shimigami powers. So in effect, he hadn't met Rukia yet, or gained his 'powers'.

Now things are getting complicated…

* * *

"GOOD MORNING ICHIGOOO!"

Karakura High School had its day jumpstarted by the resounding smack of Keigo hitting the floor as Ichigo clothes-lined him. The other students rolled their eyes and continued on their business quickly, trying to avoid the bloodbath that would most likely soon occur.

"Ichigo, why would you do this to me? We're best buddies!" Ichigo ignored his bawling 'best friend' and continued on to the classroom.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun!" Whooped Inoue Orihime, jumping up and down in excitement. Ichigo always found it difficult to look at her face when she did that…

But today he looked at her in a much different light. How happy and upbeat she was…but he knew now that she was hurting inside, and that she could be very serious if needs be. She was strong, very strong. He should make an effort this time round to help her out more often. But for now, he had to act normal.

"Morning, Ohrihime," He said nonchalantly. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm great! And I just made an amazing new recipe for my lunch! Its got-"

"Don't tell him, Orihime, you'll corrupt his brain." Came the smooth voice of Tatsuki Arisawa as she strode across to greet them. "Morning, Ichigo."

"Morning." Tatsuki…he hadn't noticed before, as he was so caught up in the war, but she had quite a high level of reitsu. Perhaps she had the potential to develop her own powers. He'd have to keep an eye on her, too.

Excusing himself to get into the classroom, the first thing he noticed was the priceless expression on Ishida's face as he no doubt sensed Ichigo's reitsu. _Take a picture, it'll last longer, _he thought smugly as he passed the now fuming Quincy. He nodded briefly to Chad and sat down, waiting for the lesson to begin.

As their teacher droned on, Ichigo thought about what the hell he was going to do. Things were getting far too complicated for his liking, and he hadn't even been back a day yet. He had intended to reappear at some point before Rukia's execution, carry on with events as they were until he got to Aizen, kick Aizen's ass, _finis_. Only now that he had appeared too early, Rukia would not transfer her powers to him, and so would not need a gigai, and never become a part of the twisted plot. Instead, the Hōgyoku would remain hidden somewhere inside the Urahara Shoten.

So now a lot of Ichigo's foreknowledge was practically useless. His success hinged on Aizen not claiming the Hōgyoku, and it was only a matter of time before the treacherous Shimigami cooked up a completely different and unforeseen plan to steal it. Still, that gave Ichigo more time to plan, train and of course, train the others when their time came.

But now he had a more immediate problem. He knew for a fact that tonight a Hollow would attack his family, and Rukia would appear to fight it. He was not worried that the Hollow would cause much trouble, but he knew that Rukia would sense his reitsu, and awkward questions would get asked.

It was frustrating, incredibly so. It had taken Ichigo months to get underneath Rukia's mask and gain her trust, even friendship. And now he had to start all over again. To her, he would appear as a rogue, dangerous Shimigami and she would probably report him. While it would mean getting closer to Aizen, ruining his reputation with Soul Society- and with Rukia- was not a good idea. He would have to be very careful. Unfortunately, Ichigo wasn't renowned for such a thing.

* * *

The walk home seemed to take a lot longer than Ichigo remembered. It felt like years since he had come down this familiar track, yet he knew he had spent only a couple of days at most in Hueco Mundo. It seemed a few days was all it took to turn the world upside down, inside out, and then invert the colours till the result was a misshapen, twisted version of the original, so similar and yet so alien.

So caught up in his thoughts was he that he almost walked into the skateboarder who was shouting at him. Acting on reflex, Ichigo promptly kicked him in the face, sending him crashing onto the ground several metres away, much to the shock of his peers.

Whoa, déjà vu. After a swift beating and a spiritual lecture, Ichigo turned to the bloodied spirit of the little girl who had been watching the whole time.

"Thank you," she said wispily. "I think I'll be able to rest in peace now." Ichigo smiled at her sadly.

"I have a better idea. I'll-" and then he tensed, realising with a shock that he didn't have his Substitute licence, nor did he have Kon, or Rukia's glove, or Kisuke's cane. He was completely stuck in his body.

_Ichigo, you dumbass!_ He screamed to himself in his head, and then sullenly turned and trudged off back home, leaving a very confused spirit behind him.

Ichigo was noticeably more subdued at dinner that night, much to Yuzu's displeasure, as she believed her cooking to be upsetting him. In fact, Ichigo was doing his best to suppress his reitsu so that Rukia would not recognise him straight off the bat and ask awkward questions- he would appear to be a human with high reitsu, that's all. Then, he would let her kill the Hollow and leave. Then tomorrow he could try and sort out his long-term plans.

It was difficult for Ichigo to accept that this time round he might have to forego Rukia's friendship, at least temporarily. But if that meant that she, his nakama, did not die, then it was a price he was willing to pay.

Of course, it wasn't very easy to concentrate on compressing one's reitsu while still thinking up reassurances to Yuzu's as she lamented her own cooking (which was excellent- she was far too modest), retorted Karin's suggestive comments that Ichigo was distracted because he was 'At that age', along with repeatedly fending off attacks from his father.

Once dinner had ended, Ichigo felt confident that he had suppressed his reitsu enough to convince the approaching Soul Reaper. He could feel her presence getting closer, along with that of the Hollow's. Now that he could sense reitsu levels more accurately, Ichigo marvelled at the enormous power difference between Rukia and the Hollow, and wondered why she had had such trouble with it before.

_Probably because she was distracted…oh yeah, by me!_ Ichigo decided then that while he would still react to her, he wouldn't attempt to break out of the Kido this time, and let her do her job.

Right on cue, he walked into his bedroom to find Rukia stepping through the window, her face set in determination. _All right, Ichigo,_ He briefed himself mentally. _Time for some stellar acting._

"It's close…" Said the Death God, treading silently past Ichigo, paying him no mind.

"'It's close' to my ass, retard!" Roared Ichigo, smashing her in the back with a kick. She collapsed on the floor a few feet away, her face the picture of shock. "You're a pretty cocky burglar," continued Ichigo, who was feeling an enormous sense of Déjà vu that was increasing by the minute. "By 'It's close' do you mean the safe is close or something?"

"You…you can see me?" Stumbled Rukia, still in shock. "And…you kicked me!"

"Huh?" Said Ichigo, feigning confusion. "What the heck are you talking about? Of course I see –" While he was performing a masterpiece of acting, in his head he was counting down: _3, 2, 1…_

"BE QUIET ICHIGO! DON'T MAKE A RUCKUS ON THE SECOND FLOOR!" One ass-kicked father later, Ichigo now had to keep up with the conversation between him and Rukia about boring stuff he already knew. One would think that, having done it before, it would be a piece a cake; however, he was finding it difficult to portray the appropriate emotional reaction (Usually some form of anger).

But there was another problem. Ichigo was starting to feel a bit unusual…the reitsu that he had compressed earlier was…he wasn't sure what _exactly_ it was doing, but it felt like it was…bubbling? Stretching? Something. It started when they got to the bit where Rukia put the Kido on him, and it was gradually building up. It was getting really-

"…There's its howl right now. Do not fear, brat; I will take care of this. Your family will come to no harm." And with that, she left. _Oops,_ thought Ichigo. _I wasn't paying enough attention, I forget that I had to react to the howl before she did…doesn't matter._ But what did matter was his steadily churning reitsu. It seemed it _really_ didn't like being contained, both by him and the Kido.

After a few minutes, he heard the battle raging downstairs. He also heard the sound of one person carrying two others up the stairs and into one of the other rooms. _Thank you, Shimigami senses!_ At least he knew that the others were all right. But the reitsu inside him was becoming unbearable; couldn't Rukia hurry it up already?!

* * *

Rukia grimaced and wiped some blood of her cheek as she squared down the Hollow that was leering at her. Under normal circumstances this would have taken seconds, but that mysteriously strong reitsu was hampering her movements. She couldn't pinpoint it's location; it was rather unstable, and reitsu detection was not her best skill. But it was close. And it was increasing.

It didn't help that the Hollow, rather than be intimidated or hampered by this high level of spirit energy, seemed encouraged by it. "_Yeeesss…such a tasty smelling reitsu! I cannot wait to find its source…but you will make a wonderful appetiser, shimigami!_" And so they continued to fight.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was really struggling upstairs He felt like he was going to split in two from the reaction between his reitsu and Rukia's Kido!

And then he split in two.

With a final burst, Ichigo's reitsu broke the offensive Kido that was containing in, but it also broke out of Ichigo's body, carrying his soul with it. Ichigo stood there in his Shihakushō, looking extremely confused and emanating a vast amount of reitsu.

Downstairs, Rukia screamed and keeled over. _What the hell is this?! _She screamed inside her head _It's so strong…I can barely move! _Suddenly she felt a sear of pain go through the side of her body and she was sent careening through the air. She screamed as she collided with the wall, and her vision swam. She could just make out the Hollow, who was trudging towards the staircase. The way it was moving, it appeared to be attempting to walk through sludge; the reitsu was hampering it now.

_Dammit Rukia,_ she berated herself. _Being put out of commission by a weak hollow that swung at you by accident? What have you sunk to?_

And then _he _came down the stairs.

Rukia's breath hitched in her throat. This. Was. Impossible. Standing at the base of the stairs, looking up at the Hollow with only a slightly annoyed expression on his face was the human she had suppressed earlier. Only he wasn't human. He was dressed in a Soul Reapers uniform, and strapped to his back was an enormous Zanpakutō that had no hilt or hand guard, and resembled a giant, yet elegant, cleaver.

The enormous reitsu that was dampening her senses…it was emanating from him! It had to be a least captain level…or higher, if that was even possible!

Who is he? What is he?

"_Heh heh ha ha! This is just too good!" _Cackled the Hollow as it looked down on Ichigo. "_A feast laid out right in front of me! You power will become mine, boy_!"

"Sorry," Said Ichigo lazily. "But this restaurant is reserved for those of higher status. You can't eat here." And with that, he punched the Hollow in the face with enough force to shatter its mask. It vanished with a chilling scream.

_He didn't even use his Zanpakutō…_ Suddenly Rukia felt very afraid. This being was completely different to the human it had posed as moments ago. This creature was bordering on being a deity, in her eyes.

She knew that, if he wanted to, he could kill her right now…

"Hey, you listening to me?" She looked up in surprise, and swallowed as she saw him there.

"Who…_what_ are you? Why were you concealing your powers? Why…how?" Rukia stumbled over her words, terrified of the man in front of her. _Pull, yourself together, Kuchiki!_ Her inner voice told her. _You are not afraid of death!_ But that was easy to forget in the process of this man. "Your reitsu…its choking me…can't you lower it, please?"

It broke Ichigo's heart to see her in such torment because of him. She must think him some kind of monster. "This is an after-affect of compressing my reitsu too much when trying to conceal my identity from you. It broke free, and so it's thicker than usual. Or something like that. It'll die down in a while." He looked down at the adopted noble, concern in his face. "Looks like he clawed you pretty badly. Lucky for you, this place is a hospital. You have any memory-modifiers on you?" Rukia only nodded dumbly. "Right, well you're going to hide in this place while you recover. We wipe the memories of my family. Only Karin will be able to see you, and she'll dismiss it. She always does. Once you're healed, you can go back to Soul Society. In exchange for my help, you don't mention I was here, got it?"

Again, all Rukia could do was nod. True to this guy's theory, his reitsu was decreasing, and she could begin to feel the pain in her wound. It was bad; limited, to only human medical supplies, she could be here for five days, at the least. She felt the mysterious stranger lift her up bridal style, and she fought back the urge to protest with one her typical outburst; she did want to give this man a reason to go back on his generosity.

He glanced back at her. What was that curious expression on his face? Concern? Pain? This being truly was an enigma. Tentatively she asked him:

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia…what is your name, Shimigami?"

"It's not Shimigami. Its Kurosaki Ichigo." And she knows then, somehow, that despite being with a complete stranger with terrifying power, that she is in the company of a friend.

* * *

**Wow, this took a lot longer than I thought it would. Natrually, that makes it longer than the previous chapter, so I think it was worth the wait. Expect similar waiting periods for future chapters, and one major one I have planned is looking to be enormous...I may have to split it up into smaller ones. My thanks to my sole reviewer, Ayumu Narumi. I'm not a nooby writer who doesn't update unless I fufill a quota of reviews, but some constructive criticism is appreciated. Natrually, flames will be ignored.**

**Bringing the next update as soon as possible,**

**Reduxer.  
**


	3. Shady Dealings

Dawn creeped over the town of Karakura silently, the long, shining tendrils of light from the sun oozing across the sky, lighting everything in an orange glow. Ichigo yawned as he blearily opened his eyes, and slowly sat up in bed. He glanced briefly at his closet, where he knew a badly hurt and extremely confused Shinigami was hiding.

There was no doubt about it; yesterday was a complete screw-up. After wiping the memories of his family (luckily none of them had sustained any injuries this time round- he still could not perform Kido, and Rukia was in no state to), he had raided the clinic for supplies of bandages, painkillers, and the like. Of course, being restricted to human methods meant that Rukia would be staying here for a least a week, so things were going to get very awkward. The alternative was to get her a gigai from Urahara, and that was out of the question, for obvious reasons.

However, he did need to see Urahara to buy some Gikongan, and fast. That in itself would be problematic; Urahara was more skilled at detecting reitsu than Rukia, and just as notorious for puppeteering as Aizen. He wouldn't even be surprised if Urahara had sent himself back after Ichigo did. Again, the alternative was worse; he couldn't just sit around in his body and channel a massive, potentially dangerous reitsu burst every time he needed to fight.

He also needed to work out how much he could tell Rukia. She was sure to be full of questions, none of which could be easily answered. Right on cue, he heard a small whimper of pain coming from his closet. Sighing, he got out of pulled and pulled on a dressing gown. He was lucky that he had got into the habit of waking at dawn, mainly to avoid his fathers crazy attacks, though occasionally he overslept and his irresponsible parent caught him.

He tapped lightly on the door. "Hey, you okay in there?" For a brief moment there was no reply, then he heard her speak up quietly:

"Yes, thank you…" She paused for a moment, and then continued. "Please…can you tell me who you are? How did you get so powerful?" She spoke with a voice that Ichigo found…strange. It was familiar; yet he knew she had never spoken with him in that tone before…where had he heard it?

Then it clicked. It was her 'Respect for superior officer' voice, one reserved for her brother or other powerful captains. _Great. Just great._ He pulled the door open roughly, revealing her bundled up on her makeshift bed, dressed in Yuzu's stolen pyjamas. She was looking up at him timidly. What had happened to the fiery, tough girl he knew? He pulled over a stool from his desk and sat down at the closet opening. He didn't speak for a while, then began softly:

"There's only so much I can tell you, but to sum things up? A while ago, while I was on a school break, I was away from home and…I died." It wasn't a lie, per se. The training that Urahara had used to help him regain his powers involved the severing of his Chain of Fate, so that counted as death, right? "While I was wandering around as a plus, I became gradually more and more spiritually strong. Strong enough to become a Shinigami in just a few days. At this, Rukia's eyes widened disbelievingly. Hey, it was a white lie. While the method was different, he had still become a Shinigami just three days after his 'death'. "It was still break when that happened, so I was able to find my body and use it as a gigai. At first, I was confused, but after a few months of fighting Hollows I was able to contact my Zanpakutō's spirit, and he taught me about Hollows, Shinigami, Soul Society, etc. And that's your lot."

Rukia looked doubtful. "That's pretty far-fetched." She said scornfully. Ichigo cast her a piercing glance.

"Believe what you want. The only thing that you need to care about is whether or not I intend to harm Soul Society. Which I don't. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get something to eat."

Ichigo crept downstairs with all the grace and stealth that his Shinigami stats granted him. Of course, to other powerful spiritual entities he would be sensed a mile off, but it was more than sufficient not to wake his family as he prepared a small breakfast for the two of them. Nothing extraordinary; just some cheap cereal and a glass of milk each. If Ichigo tried to do anything that required actual cooking he'd probably set the house on fire, even if it were just toast.

They sat and ate in silence. Soon, Ichigo heard the telltale signs of his father stirring next door, and told Rukia to close the closet door as he hid his bowl under the bed. Right on time, as-

"RISE AND SHINE, SON!!!" Isshin yelled as he exploded through the door in little more than boxers, brandishing what appeared to be a lampshade. Ichigo decked him the face, and wrenched the lampshade out of his father's hand before he could recover from the counter-attack. Tossing the lampshade out the window (which Ichigo kept open at all times, it was his favourite method of dealing with his father), the fight began in earnest, though it was more like extermination; Isshin didn't stand a chance.

As what was left of the head of the Kurosaki household left, whimpering (no doubt to cry to Yuzu), Rukia flung the closet door open again, her eyes wide.

"You let your father beat you? That's horrible!" She paused as she noticed the blood on Ichigo's dressing gown was not his, as he did not have a scratch anywhere on his body.

Ichigo grinned. "Oh, my dad's completely insane. But he doesn't have a hope in hell of hitting me. Its actually quite thoughtful of him, providing me with such exercise." Unsure what to say, Rukia just listened as he continued. "Now I'm not going to be here- school and all- so you're home alone. If you feel hungry, raid the kitchen, but don't let Karin see you! Yuzu and my dad can't sense spirits, but she can, so watch out. She's the one with black hair and lots of sarcasm." He looked down at her, a serious tone to his voice. "And don't play hero and run off back to Soul Society. You're gonna be screwed if a Hollow finds you, and I can't promise I'll come running. Got that?" And with that, he left.

In the closet, Rukia was fuming that she was confined to quarters, and felt confident that she could take on a Hollow, even in her weakened state. Still, it would be wise not to provoke this rogue's (for, despite his protests, that's what he was) wrath. He said he had no reason to harm Soul Society, so she wouldn't give him one.

She wondered, lying there in the darkness, why she behaved so differently from her usual self around him. When she first saw him, he was merely a human brat, someone beneath her. But now…he was so powerful, as much as a captain. Was that part of it? Rukia was uncertain whether it was respect, fear, or a little of both that she felt. This human denied all possibilities; to become so powerful within such a short space of time was deemed impossible.

And as much as logic screamed at her that because of this, he was something to be feared, something to be reported as soon as possible…something in his eyes told her that he was being completely sincere when he said he meant no harm. Those, eyes, deep hazel pools of hidden torment, contained something Rukia could not quite pinpoint. They swirled with all kinds of emotions; pain, determination, hope, love, loss. But what stood out prominently was _age_. Despite not even being an adult by human standards- let alone Shinigami ones- there was something in those eyes that made her ancient soul feel so very, very young.

* * *

"But Ichi-nii! A good breakfast is essential to keep your concentration at school! It says so on the cereal packet!" Wailed Yuzu, concerned for her brothers health.

"Leave him be, Yuzu," Drawled Karin as Ichigo slammed the door on his way out. "It's just his emo phrase. Bet you a thousand _yen_ that he comes home with his hair dyed black and listening to _Bullet for My Valentine_."

The door re-opened a fraction, enough for Ichigo to scream: "I AM NOT EMO!!!" Then he slammed again as Karin snorted into her cereal.

The trip to school was uneventful, as was the school day itself. It took Ichigo a brief moment to realise that Rukia would not be 'transferred' this time around, so he actually spent time in the lesson this time.

Of course, about halfway through the day Ichigo sensed the Hollow Rukia had made him fight. At that point, Ishida excused himself to the bathroom. As he left, Ichigo threw him a knowing smirk. He suppressed a chuckle as he saw the enraged look on the Quincy's face.

Other than that, things were fairly normal. However, Ichigo decided to take a little detour from his regular journey home.

The Urahara Shoten soon loomed into view, but not before Ichigo could hear Ururu's cries of pain as Jinta bullied her. _Little brat_ fumed Ichigo and, sure enough, as he approached he could see the red haired kid puller at Ururu's hair while shouting at her. A pair of brooms lay abandoned and forgotten at the side.

Ichigo was about to give the rude little snot a piece of mind, but Tessai beat him to it. The hulking Kido master dashed out of the store and wrenched Jinta away from the girl violently, though his imposing aura was somewhat ruined by his apron…

"Jinta! What are you doing! We have a customer and the store is filthy! Get back to sweeping!" Jinta swallowed.

"Yes, Tessai-san…"

"Tessai-sama!"

"Whatever…" Tessai was about to launch into lecture-mode when Ichigo cleared his throat. The enormous man's demeanour quickly changed to 'polite store assistant'.

"Ah, greetings sir! Can we interest you in some excellent quality candy, chocolate, or watermelon?" Ichigo made a face at the unorthodox third option, but then replied cryptically:

"I'm looking for a candy that I heard only your shop sells around here…" Tessai then gave a knowing nod.

"Then perhaps you would like to speak with the store-manager!" Ichigo was led into the store's interior, where he spotted Urahara carefully arranging a display of…chocolate watermelon?! The eccentric ex-captain stood up, a jovial expression on his face.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! I thought I might see you here!"

* * *

Inoue Orihime was having a very strange day. Well, stranger than usual.

Technically, it started the day before, when Ichigo came into school. She didn't know why, but that day was _different _from the others. He acted the same, behaved the same, said things he would normally say. But he just _felt_ different.

Every time she glanced at him, it was like…like…like he was separate from them, like he was hiding something. The very air around him seemed to tingle with some form of energy.

He felt _powerful_.

And, since then, she had felt strange stirrings within her. It was a difficult sensation to describe; no part of her body felt different, but she just felt…alive.

She felt _powerful_.

Going through the school days, she had seen a troubled expression on Tatsuki-chan's face that told her she was feeling it, too, though neither of them had said anything yet. Even more bizarrely, she had started to _see_ things. Ghosts. She had always kept an open mind- much to the chagrin of her friends, as she tended to go off on a tangent as a result- but she had never even thought about the existence of ghosts. And now she could see them as well as any other person.

She wondered whether or not Tatsuki-chan could see them, too. Well, she was seeing her tonight, so she could ask her then…

So caught up in her thoughts was she, that she didn't notice she had walked right in the path of a speeding car. Suddenly she felt something grab her leg, and pull her out of the way onto the sidewalk. The driver sped on, not really caring.

"Thank you, you sav-" Orihime's breath caught in her throat as she saw her rescuer. It was a monster! It was an enormous, serpentine creature with a human head and torso, with claws for hands. In its stomach it had a gaping hole. Its face with covered by a chilling skull mask.

"Aaaaah!" She couldn't help it; she screamed. "Somebody help me!" But no one was nearby.

"_You can see me, Orihime?_" asked the monster in a gravely voice. "_That's surprising. But it hurts me that you are afraid of me!!_"

"You…you can talk!" Gasped Orihime in surprise. "But how do you know my name?" The creature responded with a roar that made the young teenager flinch.

"_I knew it! You have forgotten me completely!_" It said with a howling wail. "_It's me Orihime! It's Sora!_" Orihime's eyes widened in shock; her brother? Impossible! He was _dead_! Or was this creature some kind of ghost?

"…What? No! That's not possible!" She began to protest, tears beginning to trickle down her face.

"_You used to pray for me everyday, sister! But then that karate girl and the orange-haired boy appeared, and you stopped! That is what has made me as I am now! ITS YOUR FAULT_!" He began to slither towards her, and she couldn't move. _There's nothing I can do…_ she thought with a whimper.

_Actually, girl, there _is _something you can do._ Her head shot up in surprise. A voice…that came from inside herself?

_Can you hear us, Orihime? _The voice said, and she realised it was not one voice but many, all saying the same thing. It was a mixture of male and female, but all had a gravely overtone. _Normally it would be up to you yourself to do this, but needs must…kid, you're going to have to use our power to kill him._ Orihime's eyes widened.

"I can't! He's my brother!" Looking up, Orihime noticed that Sora had frozen in place, barely a few metres away. Similarly, she could barely move.

_You have to! He is no longer your brother. Only by killing him can you ensure he is laid to rest permanently._ Grudgingly, Orihime had to accept.

"What do I have to do?" She whispered, and the voices chuckled. She shivered; the voice, no matter how helpful, was chilling.

_Just go with the flow, girl._ And then, Orihime was shocked to feel an overwhelming force assault her mind, and she was unable to do anything expect relinquish control and fall to unconsciousness.

There was an enormous flash of white light as time restarted, and Sora was forced backwards several metres. Pulling himself back up, he looked into the light, which was beginning to fade, and saw the figure standing at its centre.

"_What the hell…?_" He said in astonishment. "_Orihime?_" The figure started towards him and spoke in Orihime's voice, but with a Hollow overtone:

"_Sorry, but you're finished._" And so he was; he didn't even have time to see what she did before he dissipated into nothingness. But as he did so, the part of his mind that was still himself was freed, and he smiled.

_Orihime…thank you._ And then he passed on.

Suddenly the figure collapsed, and the light vanished. Orihime lay there, panting, her eyes fluttering open briefly.

"Sora-nii…I'll pray for you everyday…" she whispered as she began to fall unconscious again. Just before she did, she briefly saw several things flying in front of her, though she couldn't quite make them out.

"_You are not yet ready to wield our power fully_." They said. "_And next time, girl, you will have to fight for it, or we will be the ones wielding _you." Then everything went black.

* * *

"What the hell!?" Yelled Ichigo. "How did you know my…no, wait, let me guess. You sent yourself back, too?" Urahara only smiled mysteriously, and Tessai watched, bewildered.

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion in private, Kurosaki-kun." He said, beckoning Ichigo to follow him as he turned around and went into the back of the shop. Ichigo tailed him, but so did Tessai, to which Urahara frowned.

"I'm sorry, Tessai-san, but I really do mean _private_. That's just Kurosaki-kun and me. You too, Yoruichi, no spying." Ichigo jumped, he hadn't noticed until just now that a black cat had been watching them from the shadows the whole time. It meowed in disappointment and stalked off towards the kitchen.

Urahara ushered him into a nondescript storage room and sat down on a crate. Ichigo did likewise.

"Now, then." Said Urahara. "Perhaps we should start from the beginning. Yes, I did send myself back after you." Ichigo had a sudden thought, and mentioned it to Urahara.

"Uh…how is that possible? If I went back and changed the timeline, then that version of you wouldn't exist, so you couldn't send yourself back!" Urahara simply gave a superior smirk.

"I have revised my theories on time travel, Ichigo, and I have come to the conclusion that not only have we travelled, in time, we have come to a different dimension- a parallel universe. Therefore, we are changing the timeline of this one, so I was perfectly able to exist in the other one."

"Uh…right." Mumbled Ichigo, his head spinning. "We've got a problem, though. I've come back to far and no Rukia thinks I'm a powerful rogue and she's terrified of me."

"And where is Kuchiki-san? Back at Soul Society informing them of your presence?"

"No, she was injured in the fight with the Hollow and I'm helping her heal and providing her with a place to stay in exchange for her silence." Ichigo explained, and then frowned. "Uh…is it illegal for a Shinigami to interact with a human and leave their memories intact at all? I don't want her to be executed again…"

"No need to worry, Kurosaki-kun, Soul Society is well aware that they have not escaped the notice of spiritually aware humans, and it is frowned upon, but not illegal, to accept medical help from them." His face grew grim. "A more pressing matter is the Hōgyoku."

"You're not going anywhere near Rukia with that gigai."

"I do not plan to. For now, it is best to simply hold on to it here at the Shoten and plan what to do next. Aizen needs to be dealt with as swiftly as possible, but we cannot simply barge into Soul Society and attack him." He stood up and looked around the storage room packed with crates. "I will think further on this and inform you when I have a solution. For now, I believe you originally came here for some Gikongan?" Ichigo nodded. "Good. I have it here for you, free of charge! I believe you will find it familiar…" Sure enough, Ichigo unwrapped the 'Soul Candy' to find it had a duck attached to the end: This was Kon!

Unsure whether to thank Urahara or not, Ichigo simply turned to leave, but was stopped by the ex-captain.

"Before you leave, Kurosaki-kun…remember that time is fluid, and the smallest change can have far-reaching consequences. Bye-Bye!" And before Ichigo could comment, he was shooed roughly out of the shop.

* * *

On his way home from school, Ichigo found a disused plushy on the sidewalk. It wasn't the same one as last time: It was a black bear wearing a white jumpsuit. Wondering where kids got this kind of crazy toy from, he picked it up and took it home with him, hiding it under his jacket.

Dinner was uneventful (Or as uneventful as dinner at the Kurosaki's could get- moaning, sarcasm and blood was everywhere), and Ichigo went up to his room to discover that Rukia had fallen asleep, one of his old manga clutched in one hand and held against her chest. Ichigo smiled fondly, then pulled out the plushy and Gikongan, and pushed it into the toys mouth with a grimace.

After a few seconds, the toy straightened up and saluted.

"Greetings!" It said joyfully. "My name is-HUH?" It yelled, looking down at its body in surprise. "What is this?"

"I know what you are." Said Ichigo, and the plushy looked up in shock. "You're a mod soul- the last one. You were planning on running off with the first body you were given." The bear could only look at the floor sheepishly. "But I'm offering you a deal. When I need to put you in my body when I hunt a hollow, you do it and don't run off. In return, you get to use that body the rest of the time, and Soul Society doesn't kill you." During his speech the plushy's face got happier and happier, until he was bursting with joy.

"OH, THANK YOU KIND SOUL REAPER! WHAT IS YOUR NAME? OH, THANK YOU SO MU-mmph!" Ichigo clamped a hand over the bear's mouth.

"Shut up, my family will hear you! Geez!" He let go, and the plushy fell to the floor. "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. While you are here, you are Kon. Got it?" Kon frowned at the choice of name, but nodded. "Great, now go hide in a drawer somewhere…"

Sometime later, Ichigo looked at his watch and realised that in about half an hour the Hollow that was Inoue's brother would appear in his room. This time around, he'd finish it quick so Inoue and Tatsuki wouldn't get hurt. He quickly went and had a bath, and emerged from it to fend off Yuzu's complaints about missing pyjamas. He entered his room again, and waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, Ichigo extended his awareness, but couldn't sense any hollows within the town.

Eventually, Ichigo fell asleep on watch, Urahara's words playing in his mind:

…_The smallest change can have far-reaching consequences…_

_

* * *

_**Wow, this chapter didn't take as long as I thought it would. Of course, it was delayed somewhat as the login area was down.**

**My thanks to:**

**Ayumu Nayumi- Well, there seems to be a lot more now.**

**Lunar Iris- Thank you, I'll be sure to go through it again and correct my mistakes as soon as possible.**

**BrokenMuse- A simlilar thank you, I'll correct that as well. Actually, there are quite a few time-travel Bleach fanfics, if you take the time to look.**

**And all the other reviews are highly appreciated, I'll see you soon!**

**Reduxer.  
**


	4. Kids, Lets Talk About Death

Blearily, Ichigo opened his eyes, wincing as sunlight stabbed into them. He sat up with a yawn, and realised that he had fallen asleep on top of the bedcovers, fully dressed.

_Strange. Now why would I-_ suddenly he remembered what had happened last night, or rather, what had failed to happen.

_Shit! _He screamed in his mind. _I fell asleep on the job! Inoue! _He quickly scanned the town for her reitsu in a panic, and nearly fainted from relief when he sensed her alive and well. But something about her reitsu was strange…examining it closer, his eyes widened as he realised that it had increased to significantly higher than when he last saw her in the other timeline.

And it stank of Hollow.

* * *

Inoue walked side by side with Tatsuki down the school halls, trying to look straight ahead and avoid meeting the gaze of her best friend. After she had passed out last night, Tatsuki had come searching for her when no one had answered the doorbell at Inoue's house. Inoue had claimed that a car had hit her, which was why she was unconscious and had several bruises and cuts.

By the look on Tatsuki's face, the raven-haired tomboy didn't buy it for a second. Still, she said nothing. Inoue was grateful for that. But she knew that she would have to tell her best friend what really happened eventually, because after all…

…What if it happened to Tatsuki-chan, too?

The voices that had temporarily controlled her body yesterday were now constantly buzzing inside her brain. They overlapped and wavered too much to make out actual words, but Inoue couldn't stand them. The voices sounded similar to that of the creature Sora had become; like a normal voice but echoing and grating so it became only just recognisable. And the power she had felt coursing through her body yesterday had only increased since the voices had used it to defeat Sora.

And as a result, it seemed her senses had heightened, not just physically but spiritually. She could sense _other people's _power, too, and Tatsuki had quite a lot, not as much as her but it was increasing, and it was only a matter of time before something similar to what had happened to her happened to her best friend, too.

She was interested to find, extending her searches, that Chad also had the same effect, but there was another, smaller presence with him. To her immense surprise, Ishida Uryū – that nice smart kid in their class- had a presence slightly stronger than hers, though it felt quite different. She also noticed, also with some surprise, that Keigo and Mizuiro had quite large presences, though nothing compared to her own and the others she had felt. All the other students had some, but it was miniscule…

"Hey, Inoue-chan, you okay?" Inoue looked up, annoyed at being interrupted from her thoughts. In front of her stood Chizuru- the girl who was unhealthily obsessed with her. Inoue was a pacifist by nature, but did Chizuru have to pick today of all days?

"Hmm?"

"I heard Tatsuki found you unconscious in the street yesterday! Were you attacked? Are you ill? Can I…" Chizuru grinned seductively. "Comfort you…?"

"Shut the hell up, pervert!" Yelled Tatsuki as she attempted to restrain the lesbian's lecherous hands from reaching Inoue's assets. "She said she didn't want to talk about it!"

Chizuru only pouted. "Aw, I'm sure you don't really mean that, do you Orihime?" She said happily, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Inoue visibly tensed.

"…Please leave me alone, Chizuru-chan." At these words, the bespectacled Sappho and the tomboy's faces had looks of concern on them.

"I'm just trying to-"

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" Snarled the normally peaceful girl. Chizuru gave a small yelp and ran off down the corridor. Tatsuki just stared at Inoue in shock.

Her face was contorted in anger, and within her expression was something that terrified Tatsuki; Something primal that had lain hidden in her ditzy best friend, unseen until now. Suddenly, Inoue blinked and her expression changed to horror.

"I-I'm sorry!" She wailed. "I don't know what's wrong with me today! I'm just so tense, and I don't know why!" _Another lie,_ she thought. _But would you believe the truth, Tatsuki-chan?_

Tatsuki laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You have it too, don't you? But worse than me." Inoue's eyes widened. At she been that see-through? Or had Tatsuki-chan already progressed to being able to sense other people's presences?

"Tatsuki-chan…" She whispered, looking up at her. "I…we need to talk about this. At lunch, or after school. We should make sure to bring Sado-kun and Kurosaki-kun, too." Tatsuki nodded in understanding, and the two carried on to class. Without warning, Inoue felt an incredible presence approaching the school. Her breath hitched in her throat; it dwarfed her own. It was like comparing a marble to a demolition ball; it was vast, and it perforated the air around its source, making it difficult to breathe. Concentrating, she traced it back to its source.

"Ichigo…" She murmured.

"I feel it too…" muttered Tatsuki. "We _definitely_ need to find out what the hell is going on, soon." The two shared a glance, and quickly set off toward where they could sense Ichigo.

* * *

They found him in class, but sadly were unable to approach him before the teacher could arrive. They didn't miss the mixed expression of relief and worry on his face, though.

Ichigo was indeed torn. He was glad that Orihime had managed to survive her encounter with her brother's Hollow, yet at the same time, he was terrified. Contrary to the image he liked to portray, Ichigo was quite intelligent (He wasn't 23rd in the year for nothing), and when there wasn't some bloodthirsty battle to get his adrenaline pumping and his recklessness flowing, he was able to think quite rationally, and he knew exactly what had happened.

In the original timeline, Chad and Inoue were affected by his intense Reitsu and developed their own abilities. This time his Reitsu was even higher, so naturally their powers developed much faster. Now, that wasn't really much of a problem- he would just have to explain things to them earlier.

But last time round, his Reitsu hadn't been tainted with that of his Inner Hollow while their powers were manifesting. So this, in effect, had now caused Inoue, Chad, and (to his great surprise) Tatsuki to also develop Inner Hollows. Which _was _a problem. Last night, Inoue's Hollow must have manifested so it could defend itself against Sora, much like when Ichigo's had taken over to protect him from Byakuya. While an Inner Hollow cared little for it's host, it shared the same body and so had no choice but to defend both of them.

"_Ya know Kingy, us Inner Hollows rub off on our hosts. Maybe that'll make the big-boobed girl more feisty towards us!_" Ichigo scowled; it had been a long time since his Hollow had saw fit to contribute to the conversation. As much as it pained Ichigo to admit, he was right: In battle, Ichigo was a lot more bloodthirsty and feral when he had his mask on, and often remained cranky for a while after using it, though he had learned to hide said crankiness after a while. He knew that Inoue had long had an enormous crush on him, and she was a very close nakama of his, but if her Hollow decided to manifest a somewhat different form of lust than the need for battle, he would a very big problem on his hands indeed.

He was interrupted from his musings by a small nudge to the back of his head. Turning in his seat, he noticed a paper aeroplane lying on the floor with writing on it. Intrigued, Ichigo picked it up and folded it out.

_Ichigo, Orihime and I need to talk to you- urgently. We'll contact Chad and tell him to come with us. Don't be an asshole and pretend you don't know anything._

_-Tatsuki_

Ichigo scowled again. So they were on to the fact that he was the source of the problem. Had they already got to the stage of sensing reitsu? Looking up, he saw another plane making its journey towards the back of Chad's head. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Chad had bought a much larger bag into school today, and it was open slightly. A faint reitsu was emanating from it.

_Of course, the parakeet! _Thought Ichigo as an idea formed in his mind. He had Kon in his own bag, as the pesky toy had insisted on accompanying him once he discovered that Yuzu had a habit of dressing up plushies in horrifyingly embarrassing outfits. Ichigo had begrudgingly agreed. Now he had an excuse to use the Gikongan- both to Konsō the parakeet and to kill the Hollow that would no doubt appear in an enraged fury as soon as realised what had happened. Ichigo always believed that actions spoke louder than words, so it would be a good way to explain to his nakama what was going on.

Ichigo flipped over the paper and scribbled on the back in an untidy scrawl:

_Tatsuki,_

_Meet me near the sports block at lunch, there shouldn't be anyone near there. Tell Chad to bring his new 'friend'- he'll know what I mean._

_Ichigo_

Carefully he re-folded it back into a plane and threw he back to Tatsuki. She caught it and unfolded it, then showed it to Orihime who was sitting next to her. Both were visibly uncomfortable. Tatsuki ripped out a second piece of paper from her books and began a note to Chad.

* * *

The exchange of messages did not go unnoticed by the rest of the class, though luckily their teacher was still incompetently reading from the textbook in a drawling voice to realise that students were breaking rules right in front of their nose. Most of the class simply viewed it as simple note sharing.

Ishida Uryu knew better.

It struck him as odd coincidence that the only other people in the class who had high Reitsu levels were all engaged in writing to each other. He had been extremely annoyed, confused and intrigued all at the same time these past few days.

He had always been aware that Ichigo Kurosaki's Reitsu was abnormally high, but had previously thought nothing of it. Then one day he had come into school with an incredible Reitsu that saturated the very air around it with power. A Shinigami's Reitsu…and a Hollow's.

The two species he hated the most.

And the boy knew that Ishida knew, of that the Quincy was sure- every time the orange haired youth caught him glaring, he would give a superior, knowing smirk, which only served to piss off Ishida further.

Then, slowly, he had sensed the other three's Reitsus increase exponentially, with Orihime-chan's currently the highest, and all three had taken on the scent of Hollow, but still human at the same time.

He didn't know what was happening here, but he was determined to find out. Hollow tainted or not, Ichigo Kurosaki was a Soul Reaper, and Ishida was going to prove to them that there was no need for Soul Reapers in this town.

* * *

"So, uh…this is awkward." Ichigo deadpanned as he began to sweat under the intense gazes of Inoue, Tatsuki and Chad. The four of them were sitting in a circle eating lunch near to the school sports block. No one ever came here to eat, so it was the perfect place to conduct a top-secret meeting about the afterlife.

Tatsuki's eyes narrowed. "Start at the beginning, Ichigo. Why are the three of us feeling these strange powers? And why do you feel like you're the source of it?"

"And also…last night…" whispered Inoue. "A…a monster attacked me…and I spaced out, and there were voices in my head, and then the monster said it was my brother, and then I spaced out and woke up and it was gone!" As she related her tale to the rest of the group, Tatsuki's face gradually got more and more disbelieving, to the point where she was looking at Inoue like she was insane.

"Um…are you sure that's not another daydream, Inoue?"

"It happened." Said Ichigo, and again all eyes were on him. "So…how much do you guys know about death?"

* * *

Shrieker grinned manically underneath his mask as he approached the school. Never before had he found so many tasty and exotic Reitsus in one place! The little crybaby would be upset again that he killed his owner- and most of the school- but they had a deal, and that was that.

Death was good.

* * *

Perched within the branches of the tree that overhung the school block's window, Yoruichi Shihouin watched with narrowed amber eyes. This Kurosaki boy intrigued her- he had a spiritual pressure to rival a captain's, and he knew Kisuke. Either of these two things would be impressive enough on their own, but both of them together was quite an accomplishment.

Yoruichi flicked her tail impatiently as she watched the strange gathering from her hiding place within the bows an overhanging tree. Sadly, she had not managed to overhear the conversation between the boy and Kisuke, but they obviously had past dealings. Even more intriguing was that his Reitsu was not unlike that of a Visored's, but she knew all eight of the Hollow-gamis by name, face and personality, and he was most definitely not one of them.

And then there were his classmates. Humans developing their own spiritual powers were not unheard of (There was a Quincy in this class, after all- Ryuken Ishida's son), but these also had Hollow traces and were obviously not Quincy.

Her eyes narrowed as the orange haired boy began talking to the others, apparently explaining something. She shifted along the branches so she could get in earshot. She was confident that Kurosaki was not able to detect her; he was immensely powerful, but that often came at the cost of more delicate abilities such as Kido and sensing Reitsu, similar to Kenpachi. Of course, she still did her best to conceal her Reitsu as a precaution.

She, the Goddess of Flash, would not be denied. She _would_ find out what was happening here.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight." Said Tatsuki, her voice neutral. "Dead people who die unhappy get turned into horrible monsters called Hollows, happy people go to a place called Soul Society, where they can train to be Shinigami. A Shinigami's job is to kill Hollows so the Hollow is at peace and goes to Soul Society. And you're some weird cross between a Shinigami and a Hollow, and your presence affected us so we are developing our own powers and becoming Hollow-like."

Ichigo nodded. "That's it in a nutshell."

"BULLSHIT!" shrieked the martial arts master. "You expect us to believe that crap?!"

Sado, who had remained mostly quiet all this time, spoke up. "It is somewhat unlikely, Ichigo." Inoue just whimpered. She wanted to agree with Sado-kun and Tatsuki-chan, but the voices in her head said otherwise.

Of course, Ichigo had been expecting this. Already he could sense Shrieker getting closer to the school. It was time to prove his point. "Chad, get your friend out of the bag." Sado's eyes widened; he hadn't been aware that Ichigo knew about Shibata…reluctantly he withdrew the cage from within his bag, revealing the parakeet.

"Hello," it said cheerfully. "My name is Shibata Yuiichi. What are your names, Misses and Mister?" Tatsuki and Inoue's eyes widened as they sensed the spiritual energy emanating from the parakeet.

"It…it can talk?" Asked Inoue in wonder. Ichigo's reply was to reach for his own bag and begin rummaging through it.

"Another job of a Shinigami is to send the souls of those who died peacefully onto Soul Society through a ritual called Konso. Sometimes a soul latches onto the body of an animal and possess it." He looked up at the bird. "Shibata, I'm going to perform Konso on you. You'll go to the afterlife, and you'll be able to find your mom there."

"Re-really?! Thank you so much, Mister!"

Ichigo was still searching through his bag. The others were beginning to get impatient. "Ichigo," began Tatsuki. "What are you-"

"OW! Hey, Ichigo, you don't need to be so rough! I've been buried under your stuff all today and this is how I'm rewarded?!" The group sweatdropped as Ichigo pulled out a talking, moving plushy of a bear.

"What the hell is that?!" Yelled Tatsuki, whereas Inoue simply squealed.

"Oh, wow, so cute!" Kon turned and noticed her, and his nose began to bleed instantly.

"THE VALLEY OF THE GODS!!!" He screamed, struggling to get out of Ichigo's grasp. Sado and Shibata simply looked on, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Time to shut you up!" Yelled Ichigo, and, grimacing, shoved his hand into Kon's mouth, ignoring the Mod Soul's protests and the exclamations of disgust from the girls.

Eventually he withdrew a small round pill, and Kon's body grew limp. Steeling himself, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it.

The girls were about to scream the loudest 'Eww' they could muster, but were rendered speechless first as Ichigo appeared to separate into two Ichigos! Emerging from the original body, a second Ichigo towered over them in a black robe, an enormous cleaver strapped to his back and wrapped in bandages.

Meanwhile, the original Ichigo stumbled slightly, before lunging towards Orihime. "I HAVE FOUND HEAVEN!" he exclaimed in a voice full of joy, before Tatsuki decked him in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL, ICHIGO!?" she screamed. Inoue was blushing madly that Kurosaki-kun had seemingly made an advance on her, while Sado and Shibata were, once again, speechless.

"Hey, that's my body you're hurting!" the second Ichigo yelled at the first one.

"Huh? _She's _the one who decked _me_!"

"She wouldn't have to if you didn't have a one-track mind!"

"EXPLAIN!" Roared Tatsuki. The Ichigo with the giant sword turned to her while the second one looked down sheepishly.

"This is Kon, a mod soul. While I'm hunting Hollow's or performing Konso, he basically pretends to be me while I'm away. Only spiritually strong people can see me like this."

"He's not a very good actor." Said Sado dubiously. Kon was about to retort angrily but a double glare from Ichigo and Tatsuki silenced him.

"Excuse me, Mister!" Said Shibata. "But how exactly does this Konso thing work?"

"Like this." Said Ichigo, unsheathing Zangetsu and, before anyone could react, twisted it round, passed it through the cage bars and tapped the hilt on the parakeet's head.

Instantly the place where the hilt had made contact glowed with a fierce blue light, and, much to the shock of the spectators, the rest of Shibata's body quickly began to pulsate with the same light. Within a few seconds, it had become bright enough to totally obscure him from view.

When it faded, the cage was empty save for a black swallowtail butterfly that fluttered past the bars and into the world.

"…Whoa."

"…Exactly what I was thinking, Inoue." Remarked Tatsuki, her voice incredulous.

Sado simply looked amused, but also slightly sad. "Well, that dispels any doubts about you telling the truth, Ichigo." He paused, and looked forlornly at the lonely cage. "…He will be happy in the afterlife?"

"You bethca."

Suddenly Inoue's head snapped up, followed a couple of seconds later by Sado and Tatsuki.

"Kurosaki-kun," she started, her face set in a frown. "There are two other presences moving toward us. Are they hollows?"

"You only just noticed them? You guys are going to need more work than I thought…but yeah, you're half right. One of them is a Hollow; it'll be here about-"

"_I've found you, tasty morsels! Now, which one should I gorge on first?"_ Inoue, Tatsuki and Sado gasped in shock, while Kon chose to emit a rather girly scream. Seemingly out of nowhere, an enormous, bat-like creature donned with a chilling bone-white mask had materialised behind Ichigo. To Ichigo's credit, he did not so much as blink, but turned his head imperceptibly, annoyed to have been interrupted.

"…Now" He finished, and, faster than Shrieker could see, he pivoted, still clutching Zangetsu, and swung down harshly, splitting the Hollow's mask in half. The hideous creature let out an unearthly scream before it was swallowed by the monstrous gates of Hell.

Once again, Ichigo's companions were stunned into submission. Ichigo mentally noted that they seemed to be doing that too much today…

Turning to them with a cocky grin, he laughed at their awed expressions. "What? I can do stuff a lot flashier than that, so you'll have to learn not to gawk at every little thing. Besides, with training you'll be able to do stuff just like that."

Tatsuki was about to retort angrily about the 'gawking' comment, but was cut off as the second spiritual presence decided to enter the fray, preceded by a streak of blue energy that struck Ichigo head-on.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Yelled Inoue in concern, but was shocked when the energy dissipated and Ichigo was revealed, still standing, upholding his cleaver in a blocking stance.

The group's attention was then drawn by the sound of clapping. Turning, they saw the form of Ishida Uryu standing at the other end of the sports block, changed out of his school uniform and into a rather provocative on the eyes costume.

"Bravo, Kurosaki." He drawled. "It seems you are not as unskilled as I thought." His eyes narrowed, and his face tightened in a grimace of hate. "I, Ishida Uryu the Last Quincy, challenge you to a contest!"

* * *

**And there we go, Chapter Four. I've got the ball really rolling now, and the next chapter promises to be the most intense and longest yet.**

**My thanks to:**

**Lunar Iris- Uh...Hazel is a kind of brown, isn't it? (Grins sheepishly) I couldn't really remember, and I have to access my manga online, and its not always trustworthy and accurate...again, I'll edit that. I'll probably update the previous three chapters just before my next update, along with any that people spot in this chapter (Which I am certain there will be).**

**  
Illidan the Half Demon- Yes, a very different awakening indeed, but no, the 'fairies' haven't released _all_ of her power yet. You'll just have to wait and see, although this chapter should probably give you the basic idea.**

**And my thanks to everyone else who reviewed but didn't say much more than 'This is good', but reviewed nontheless!**

**Reduxer.**


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